Happy Wednesday ya’ll

It’s hump day, so I figure why not chat about TEA

I am a TEA lover…..I drink roughly 3-6 cups of tea a day and I drink my tea without sugar or milk.

Before I go off in tangent, lets define this drink. What is Tea?

Google characterizes it as a noun and defines it as “a hot drink made by infusing the dried, crushed leaves of the tea plant in boiling water.” A second definition is “the evergreen shrub or small tree that produces tea leaves, native to South and eastern Asia and grown as a major cash crop.”

WebMD states “Tea is a name given to a lot of brews, but purists consider only green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea the real thing.”

Some background on Tea

Tea is the processed leaves of a single plant, termed Camellia sinensis.  Camellia sinensis is a sub-tropical, evergreen plant native to Asia. However, it is now grown around the world. Although tea are grown and harvested around the world, certain regions are known for one type or another. For example, Japan is known for green tea. China is known for white tea and pu-erh. Sri Lanka for its black tea.

Though there are various types/flavors of tea, the type of tea depends on the type of tea processing it undergoes. The main five are:

1. Black Tea: Black tea is fully oxidized during manufacture, hence the dark brown/black leaves and color.
2. Oolong Tea: Oolong tea is partially oxidized in the manufacturing process. As a result, the color, flavor and aroma of oolongs range widely between that of green and black teas.
3. Green Tea:  Of all the teas, green tea is unoxidized. As such it maintains the leaves’ green color through processing.
4. White Tea: “After harvesting, white tea is simply withered and dried (similar to an herb)”.
5. Pu-erh Tea: “Produced only in China, pu-erh processing is a closely guarded secret. Pu-erh is the only “aged” tea, and can be fully-oxidized like black tea or unoxidized like green tea”.

References: Teatulia and Arbor Tea (check out these sites for more information)

I have tried all five and my favorite is green tea. My mom got me hooked on green tea (Thanks mom!).

Besides green tea, my favorite teas include :

Peppermint – helps with digestion

Roasted dandelion – helps detoxifies the liver

Ginger – helps with inflammation and blood sugar balance

Lemon ginger – helps with digestion and detoxifies the body

Green – contains antioxidants that are shown lower high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc

I am not a fan of flavored/fruit infused teas.

So why do I drink tea so much? For its health benefits

 

What are your favorite teas? And why do you drink tea?

Have a good day!